Princess Rescue Inc (86 page)

“Interesting.
If I remember right, medieval society had mastiffs and other dogs bred for
war... I take it they applied them for that purpose as well,” he murmured. But,
he realized, the Imperium didn't use them, or at least not in the numbers that
the Duluth did.

“Exactly
so. Also, they have these.” Nate pulled up a smaller creature. “I believe
princess Zara has one of these. They are the equivalent of house pets or
mousers, Terriers.” He showed a slide show again.

Ryans
nodded. “So it's the equivalent of a cat. I'd rather have a cat,” he chuckled.

“Me
too, but these creatures are so interesting!” Nate exclaimed. “A page told me
to tour the town stables; there are over  five different species there in
the royal stables, not just horses and
branacks
, but other creatures as
well!” He shook his head. “They use them for various purposes, thus fulfilling
the niches a draft horse or ox would, or a thoroughbred, or even a pony!”

“Did
you see this?” He pulled up an image of a bipedal creature. It had four t-Rex
style shortened arms tucked against its chest. Held there no doubt by the
straps crisscrossing its body. A rider was on its back. “A light unit, used for
carrying mail, traveling quickly over flat terrain, or even used for scouting
or light cavalry work. Brilliant, utterly brilliant!” Nate grinned. Ryans tried
hard not to roll his eyes. Yes he'd seen a
branack
before.

“And
this!” He used the mouse to tap another image. A centaur creature appeared. It
resembled the first creature, but had only one pair of shortened arms, the
middle pair were legs. “It seems the natives bred the lighter unit, the
branack
beast from this. Somehow in less than two thousand years they created a sub
breed that is leaner and has almost totally lost the use of its secondary limb
set. This beast is used for heavier work, and even ridden by knights and their
equivalent of cavalry.”

“Ah,”
Ryans nodded. “I take it they can't have armor though?”

Nate
nodded. “Not a whole lot, a bit on the head and chest from what I've seen.
Mostly chain mail. Heavier beasts have mail on the hind quarters as well.”

“Hollow
bones Doc?” Ryans asked.

Nate
shook his head. “Oh no, bloody hell no. I wish I could get a look under a
proper microscope. It looks like something I've never seen. A fibrous network
all fused together. Possibly boron, I'm not sure. A high concentration of boron
in the soil and food supply would explain why Terran animals have a hard time
adapting here, they can't use it in their bodies so it passes through them...
and if boron is in more abundance than calcium then it...”

“Then
they need much more food than normal to replace what calcium they would have
normally got,” Ryans finished nodding.

“I
believe so. Mary and Charlie have yet to confirm it though,” Nate shrugged.

“Now,
see, these creatures...” He pulled up an image of a war beast. “These are the
equivalent of domestic elephants on earth. Here they also serve in both the war
and peace capacity,” he smiled. “I've identified them as the equivalent of
bovines; something called a 
shek'nar
beast that the princess
mentioned yesterday. Its native to the mountains and northern arctic. They're a
bit like a six legged lama, very nice pelt, quite exquisite,” he smiled.

“I've
found native equivalent of porcines, though the Terran version has adapted
readily enough. They're used for both food and for war,” Nate grimaced. He
loved many animals but he'd heard terrible stories of porcines.

“War
pigs,” Ryans grunted and then chuckled.

“Unfortunately
I only have the image from the one farm... and a couple skulls of warthog like
creatures to go by. We seem to have run into it from the looks of it. Remember
that critter that you ran into with the truck? The one that treed Zara?” Nate
asked.

“Yeah?”

“It
sounds like that was the beasty responsible. Naughty, real nasty bloke. I can
see why some countries like Duluth use them for war. The Imperium though
doesn't.”

“But
others do?” Ryans nodded. “Something to keep in mind then. Nasty customer to
meet in the woods or out in a field.” He looked at the skull and four sets of
tusks. Each tusk was serrated, and curved up and outward. “Definitely something
to keep in mind. I remember that thing was all black and was fast. Damn strong
too.”

“Yes
and porcines are omnivores. Some boars prefer meat. Prehistoric porcines were
predators, and right nasty customers.”

“Great,”
Ryans grimaced. “Anything else?”

“Yes,
yes. I've already shown you the equivalent of deer and antelope, those lean
creatures.” Nate showed the image. Ryans smiled.

“And
of course the
basilisk
, arthropods,
wyverns
, dragons...” He shook
his head. “That's a lot of nasty customers to play with.” He grinned. “I'm glad
they didn't try to domesticate any of them.”

Nate
chuckled. “Me too. I did find their equivalent of fowl; they have small six
legged creatures that serve as poultry. They produce eggs, down and feathers.
In fact many of the colder climate animals produce some form of down or feather
like structure. The people here are very adaptive.” He smiled.

Ryans
nodded. “Good to know,” he said. Now he knew where the natives got feathers for
pillows and those fans they loved to use.

“Indeed.
I've found a cameloid the desert nomads have domesticated as well, there's a reference
to it in the royal library,” Nate smiled. He brought up an image. It was taken
from a book illustration.

“Fascinating,”
Ryans nodded. “So these creatures are all egg layers Nate?”

“And
warm blooded,” Nate said closing his notebook. “I believe they're like the
Australian platypus, but it'll take me a bit longer to discover how close a
resemblance they have.”

“But
some have down, some have fur, some have feathers. I take it that's due to
evolution and habitat right?” Ryans asked. Nate nodded. “Hmmm...” Ryans said
looking off. “You said they don't have calcium, they rely on boron... so where
do the people get calcium if not milk? Humans need it to grow, especially in
the early formative years.”

“Oh
I said it may be boron...oh I see... um...” Nate blinked in sudden confusion.
His eyes became unfocused as his mind turned over the problem. “You know, I
don't know. Possibly something botanical? Milk from a coconut or something
native equivalent?” he asked thoughtfully.

“Possible,”
Ryans nodded. “I'll make a note to ask Mary or Gregory sometime when things
settle down.” He tapped at the network. “Or I'll send an e-mail like that.” He
looked up to Nate. “Thanks Nate.” He nodded as the biologist got up.

“Thank
you for your time. I was just soo...” He shrugged helplessly.

“Excited
and wanted to share. I know Doc, not a problem. I was curious myself,” Ryans
smiled as Nate bobbed a nod then left.

<==={}------------>

“Ah,
there you are,” a familiar voice said. He turned to see Deidra and a guard in
the entryway. He smiled nodding politely before turning back to the massive
room.

“Nice
to see you too. Nate told me about this, I had to see it for myself.” He smiled
looking around the ornate library. It was large, three tiered, with wall to
wall shelves and book cases. Scrolls of every size and shape filled every nook
and cranny. Maps were on one wall opposite the fire. Nice reading chairs were
arranged around the hearth.

Deidra
looked around as well, running her hand along a polished banister. “You like?”
She smiled at him as he nodded. “I loved to spend winters here in front of the
fire reading.” She waved to the leather chairs near the dark fireplace. He
looked and then nodded, easily picturing it. In the dead of winter something
like this place would be the place to go to relax and combat boredom.

“I've
done that a time or two myself.” He stretched, then carefully set the scroll he
had been puzzling over aside. “I'm surprised you have paper however. And
books!” He waved to indicate some of the leather bound tomes. He hadn't
intended to be here for so long. He checked his phone and frowned. Two hours
here.

Deidra
fingered the tome. “They're hard to make. Father has a copy of every book ever
made here,” she smiled, running a delicate finger over one of the leather bound
monster books.

Ryans
nodded. “I can imagine. I was just wondering how you got the recipe for paper.
That was an Asian thing.”

She
blinked at him. “Asian.” He used his index fingers to make his eyes wider
simulating an Asian look. She nodded.

“Yes
we have people like that,” she said. He knew that of course, he'd seen a few in
the castle. She went looking through the tomes then came up with one. She laid
it next to the map and started thumbing through the pages. He went over to her
side.

“Here,”
she said. She pointed to a page. “Many years ago men and women came through the
land looking for a place of their own. They had traveled through the vortex and
decided to settle in a valley...” She stopped reading and pushed the book away
to look at the map. “Ah, here.” She pointed tracing her finger along what
looked like a valley.

“They
built a village in a valley, but were driven out by the migrating herds in the
fall. When winter came many fell prey to animals and starvation.” She looked
up, face dark. He rubbed her shoulders gently.

“Some
managed to get back to nearby settlements. A few were found by a convoy train
the next spring as well.” She shook her head. “They settled here in the capital
and in small villages along the coast. They were the ones who taught us
about...” She glanced at the book. “Yes, paper. This,” she said. She tapped the
pages.

“And
adding fish and kelp to the soil... many healing medicines... some other
things,” she explained. She looked up from the book to him. He nodded. Native
Americans were known for some of this as well he knew. And come to think of it
wasn't there an Asian Duke? He thought, rubbing his brow. Isamu Sung, he
remembered and then frowned as another thought struck him suddenly.

“Too
bad they didn't teach you gunpowder,” he said. She blinked at him.

He
frowned. “The Asians were the ones to discover gunpowder on earth. Many, many
years ago they used it in rockets and in fire crackers. Later it was
transported to the Mideast and Europe and developed into better weapons.”

She
nodded. “Most of those who came were said to be farmers,” she explained.
“Peasants.” He nodded.

“Probably.
And they may not have had access to that knowledge... or were forbidden to
teach it. Asia had a death penalty for anyone who broke that law back then.” He
shrugged.

She
seemed to become aware of his looming presence and blushed. She pulled away for
a moment, but when he didn't follow she darted an exasperated look at him then
leaned back against his side.

Instinctively
his arms wrapped around her to support her. She smiled, glad her ploy had
worked. He chuckled softly. “Better?” he murmured.

“Ah
boss, we've got those figures on... um...” They both stiffened at Max's voice.
Ryans turned to see him there as Deidra scowled, looking away. “Ah, sorry it
can wait,” Max said starting to retreat.

They
both seemed to sigh, and then he chuckled once more. “No Max, I take it you got
the figures on the electrical sorted out?” He turned to see the big engineer
looking a bit sheepish. Max wanted to get his hands on the reactor they had
tucked away in the ravine but Perry was adamant about leaving it where it was
for now.

“Yeah,
ah, we've got the iron and copper estimates, but we're having a heck of a time
getting our hands on the chromium and platinum now that people know we want it.
Not to mention tin and some of the other bits we're going to need later on.” He
shrugged. “I was hoping the princess or the minister of trade could do
something about that.” He indicated the princess.

“I
guess work is never done,” the princess murmured straightening her bodice. He
chuckled.

“Something
like that,” he agreed. She tilted her chin up to him and he impulsively kissed
her. She froze, and then softened. He felt her arms wrap around him. When they
came up for air he lightly brushed her cheek with his hand.

A
grunt and then clearing of a throat made him chuckle again as awareness of
their audience returned. “Sorry.” He turned to see Sergeant Waters alongside
Max. “Something else Master Sergeant?”

“Max
and the others bore standardized the new brass ammunition so we've got a small
supply for our own uses to restock. It's not nearly as good as our own, but
it's a start. I was concerned about it though, we need to set up armories in secure
locations that are protected from the elements and theft...and protect the
population from accidents. Lieutenant Perry agreed and pointed me in your
direction.” He waved to the map. “I also wanted to go over our line of march
again while we've got the time.”

Deidra
smothered a chuckle as he slowly released her. “By all means,” she said
smiling. She moved the tome then pulled the capital map out and placed it on
top of the area map.